Hi guys, I am really not aware of ANY of the so called "big guns" operating
on the calling frequency.. They may squeeze up to within 5kHz of there, but
the reason they are the "big guns" is that they know how to operate
efficiently and operating on the calling frequency is NOT that!
That being said, up here in rural Maine, I will often call CQ to the
Northeast on 144.2. This is because the VE1's often MONITOR 144.2. I am
often the only station they heard all weekend because, while I am far off
the beaten path, they are even FARTHER.. With my beam to the NE I am qrming
no one and being qrmed by no one, but it occasionally results in a contact
and a new grid. For this reason and probably a lot of others, it's silly
making rules like QSY rules or "not using the calling frequency" rules or
anything like that in a VHF contest.. It's not the same as not allowing
operation on 146.52 on FM.. like what's the calling frequency anyway??
144.200. ok... how about 144.203?? 144.201? how about 144.2005? How about 1
Hz above 144.2? If it's not enforceable.. it's a stupid rule..
I think the experienced contest stations KNOW to stay away from .200.. At
least they should if they want to get a good score.. We should be using ths
forum to let the newcomers understand things they might not know just
starting out. Things like when I hear a station S9 calling CQ from 300 miles
away, that he probably has pretty high power and if I am running 10 watts,
he might not hear me due to a lot of other stations calling him that are
either closer or running higher power.. I may not hear the other stations
because they are pointing away from me toward the station I am trying to
work.. If I have low power I should be "tuning and pouncing" a lot and if I
run out of stations to call and need to call CQ it should be a good distance
away from then calling frequency.. The big guns KNOW to tune for me. If they
don't they are missing QSO's and the really good stations don't miss much!
Now, that's for 2 meters.. On 222, activity is a lot more sparse and at
least up here I WELCOME QRM!!! Hope to see you all next week on 222!
bill, K1DY
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